Text type is more common than any other. Text makes up the acres of gray in books, magazines, reports, and hundreds of other documents. When reading is the primary goal, itÕs the designerÕs job to ensure that the text is smooth, flowing, and pleasant to read. The hallmarks of good text type are legibility and readability. Legibility refers to clarity; itÕs how readily one letter can be distinguished from all others. Readability refers to how well letters interact to compose words, sentences, and paragraphs. When evaluating the choices, the operative word is medium.
Character Widths
Pick a typeface with similar character widths
For the smoothest appearance, an alphabetÕs characters should have similar widths. Reading has a natural rhythm; an alphabet such as Futura with widely varying character widths disrupts it.
Height-to-Width Ratio
We identify letters by their physical characteristicsÐstems, bars, loops, curves, and so on; the clearer they are the more legible the letter. As letters are compressed (or expanded), these features get distortedÐdiagonal strokes, for example, become quite verticalÐand so are harder to identify.
Medium height-to-width ratio
X-height
Medium x-height
The x-height of a typestyle is the height of its lowercase characters. The larger the x-height, the denser the type will appear. You want medium; unusually tall or short x-heights are better suited for specialty projects.
Stroke Weight
Look for small variations in stroke weight
The best text faces have stroke weights that vary somewhat, which make converging lines that help the eye flow smoothly. But avoid extremes. Modern styles (left) vary too much; at high resolution their beautiful, superthin strokes disappear in a dazzle. Sleek geometric styles (far right) vary little or not at all, so are too uniform.
Mirrors
Watch out for mirrors

Geometric typestyles are so uniform that their letters are often mirror images. For text, this isnÕt idealÐthe more distinct each letter is, the more legible whole words will be. Look for typestyles that donÕt mirror.
Counters
Avoid overlarge counters
Counters are the enclosed spaces inside letters. Avoid typestyles whose counters are very large in relation to the stroke weight. In the case of Avant Garde (right), note how much greater the space inside the letters is than the space outside. This will slow the reader. Set in text (far right), Avant Garde looks like Swiss cheese!
Type Quirks
Avoid quirkiness
Typographic sprites are fun to look at and great for heads, but in text they wear out their welcome fast. Why? The extra swashiness gives the eye too much to follow and is very tiring.